System information block (SIB) transmission for wide coverage enhancement (WCE)

ABSTRACT

Technology for a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) and a next generation node B (gNB) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell is disclosed. The WCE UE can identify selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB). The WCE UE can decode an ePDCCH transmission from the gNB. The WCE UE can identify a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded.

BACKGROUND

Wireless systems typically include multiple User Equipment (UE) devices communicatively coupled to one or more Base Stations (BS). The one or more BSs may be Long Term Evolved (LTE) evolved NodeBs (eNB) or new radio (NR) NodeBs (gNB) or next generation node Bs (gNB) that can be communicatively coupled to one or more UEs by a Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network.

Next generation wireless communication systems are expected to be a unified network/system that is targeted to meet vastly different and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. New Radio Access Technology (RAT) is expected to support a broad range of use cases including Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), Mission Critical Machine Type Communication (uMTC), and similar service types operating in frequency ranges up to 100 GHz.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of the disclosure; and, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame structure in accordance with an example

FIG. 2a illustrates a discovery reference signal transmitted in multiple subframes in accordance with an example;

FIG. 2b illustrates an example of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) extension in accordance with an example;

FIG. 3a illustrates a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in accordance with an example;

FIG. 3b illustrates a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in accordance with an example;

FIG. 4 depicts functionality of a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell in accordance with an example;

FIG. 5 depicts functionality of a next generation node B (gNB) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell in accordance with an example;

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of a machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for performing communication in a MulteFire cell in accordance with an example;

FIG. 7 illustrates an architecture of a wireless network in accordance with an example;

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram of a wireless device (e.g., UE) in accordance with an example;

FIG. 9 illustrates interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with an example; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram of a wireless device (e.g., UE) in accordance with an example.

Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the technology is thereby intended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the present technology is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this technology is not limited to the particular structures, process actions, or materials disclosed herein, but is extended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understood that terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. The same reference numerals in different drawings represent the same element. Numbers provided in flow charts and processes are provided for clarity in illustrating actions and operations and do not necessarily indicate a particular order or sequence.

Example Embodiments

An initial overview of technology embodiments is provided below and then specific technology embodiments are described in further detail later. This initial summary is intended to aid readers in understanding the technology more quickly but is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the technology nor is it intended to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The explosive growth in wireless traffic has led to a demand for rate improvement. However, with mature physical layer techniques, further improvement in spectral efficiency has been marginal. In addition, the scarcity of licensed spectrum in the low frequency band results in a deficit in the data rate boost. There are emerging interests in the operation of LTE systems in unlicensed spectrum. In 3GPP LTE Release 13, one enhancement has been to enable operation in the unlicensed spectrum via licensed-assisted access (LAA). LAA can expand the system bandwidth by utilizing a flexible carrier aggregation (CA) framework, as introduced in the LTE-Advanced system (3GPP LTE Release 10 system). Release 13 LAA focuses on the downlink (DL) design, while 3GPP Release 14 enhanced LAA (or eLAA) focuses on the uplink (UL) design. Enhanced operation of LTE systems in the unlicensed spectrum is expected in Fifth Generation (5G) wireless communication systems. In one example, LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum can be achieved using dual connectivity (DC) based LAA. In DC based LAA, an anchor deployed in the licensed spectrum can be utilized.

In another example, 3GPP Release 14 describes that LTE operation in the unlicensed system can be achieved using a MulteFire system, which does not utilize an anchor in the licensed spectrum. The M MulteFire system is a standalone LTE system that operates in the unlicensed spectrum, and does not necessitate assistance from a node operating in the licensed spectrum. The MulteFire system can be configured to combine the performance benefits of LTE technology with the simplicity of WiFi-like deployments. Therefore, 3GPP Release 14 eLAA and MulteFire systems can potentially be significant evolutions in future wireless networks.

In one example, the unlicensed frequency band of current interest for 3GPP systems is the 5 gigahertz (GHz) band, which has wide spectrum with global common availability. The 5 GHz band in the United States is governed using Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) rules by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The main incumbent system in the 5 GHz band is the wireless local area networks (WLAN), specifically those based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 a/n/ac technologies. WLAN systems are widely deployed both by individuals and operators for carrier-grade access service and data offloading. Therefore, listen-before-talk (LBT) in the unlicensed spectrum is a mandatory feature in the 3GPP Release 13 LAA system, which can enable fair coexistence with the incumbent system. LBT is a procedure in which radio transmitters first sense the medium, and transmit only if the medium is sensed to be idle.

The regulations for usage of the unlicensed spectrum can vary based on region. For example, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in the European Union specifies that an occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) is to be between 80% and 100% of a declared nominal channel bandwidth. In other words, a transmitter is to transmit a signal by occupying between 80% and 100% of the system bandwidth. For example, when the system operates with a total bandwidth of 10 MHz, each transmission is to occupy at least 8 MHz. The regulations on the maximum power spectral density are typically stated with a resolution bandwidth of 1 megahertz (MHz). The ETSI specification defines a maximum power spectral density (PSD) of 10 decibel-milliwatts per MHz (dBm)/MHz for 5150-5350 MHz. The FCC has a maximum PSD of 11 dBm/MHz for 5150-5350 MHz. A 10 kilohertz (KHz) resolution can be utilized for testing the 1 MHz PSD constraint and, therefore, the maximum PSD constraint can be satisfied in an occupied 1 MHz bandwidth. In addition, the regulations impose a band specific total maximum transmission power in terms of equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP), e.g., ESTI has an EIRP limit of 23 dBm for 5150-5350 MHz.

A target user equipment (UE) can be located in locations that can cause significant signal degradation, such as the deepest corner of a building, in a basement, in a bridge, partially buried in farm land, and so forth. The signal degradation due to the location can affect the functionality. This can be true when the UE is being used for IoT applications. Enhancing or extending the coverage of a cell can not only enhance the link quality of the PDSCH but also reduce the number of next generation node Bs (gNBs) that are deployed, which can reduce the deployment cost.

In discovery reference signal (DRS) subframes, the system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) can be scheduled using the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). Because of the limited subframes for SIB-MF transmission in both the PDCCH and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), SIB-MF transmission on both the PDCCH and the PDSCH can be limited or bottle-necked.

Several mechanisms can reduce the bottleneck associated with SIB-MF transmission on the PDCCH and the PDSCH. In one example, the PDCCH can be used for SIB-MF downlink control information (DCI) grant or scheduling. In another example, the PDSCH can be used for SIB-MF data transmission.

FIG. 1 provides an example of a 3GPP LTE Release 8 frame structure. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates a downlink radio frame structure type 2. In the example, a radio frame 100 of a signal used to transmit the data can be configured to have a duration, T_(f), of 10 milliseconds (ms). Each radio frame can be segmented or divided into ten subframes 110 i that are each 1 ms long. Each subframe can be further subdivided into two slots 120 a and 120 b, each with a duration, T_(slot) of 0.5 ms. The first slot (#0) 120 a can include a legacy physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 160 and/or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) 166, and the second slot (#1) 120 b can include data transmitted using the PDSCH.

Each slot for a component carrier (CC) used by the node and the wireless device can include multiple resource blocks (RBs) 130 a, 130 b, 130 i, 130 m, and 130 n based on the CC frequency bandwidth. The CC can have a carrier frequency having a bandwidth and center frequency. Each subframe of the CC can include downlink control information (DCI) found in the legacy PDCCH. The legacy PDCCH in the control region can include one to three columns of the first Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in each subframe or RB, when a legacy PDCCH is used. The remaining 11 to 13 OFDM symbols (or 14 OFDM symbols, when legacy PDCCH is not used) in the subframe may be allocated to the PDSCH for data (for short or normal cyclic prefix).

The control region can include physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid-ARQ) indicator channel (PHICH), and the PDCCH. The control region has a flexible control design to avoid unnecessary overhead. The number of OFDM symbols in the control region used for the PDCCH can be determined by the control channel format indicator (CFI) transmitted in the physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH). The PCFICH can be located in the first OFDM symbol of each subframe. The PCFICH and PHICH can have priority over the PDCCH, so the PCFICH and PHICH are scheduled prior to the PDCCH.

Each RB (physical RB or PRB) 130 i can include 12-15 kilohertz (kHz) subcarriers 136 (on the frequency axis) and 6 or 7 orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 132 (on the time axis) per slot. The RB can use seven OFDM symbols if a short or normal cyclic prefix is employed. The RB can use six OFDM symbols if an extended cyclic prefix is used. The resource block can be mapped to 84 resource elements (REs) 140 i using short or normal cyclic prefixing, or the resource block can be mapped to 72 REs (not shown) using extended cyclic prefixing. The RE can be a unit of one OFDM symbol 142 by one subcarrier (i.e., 15 kHz) 146.

Each RE can transmit two bits 150 a and 150 b of information in the case of quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation. Other types of modulation may be used, such as 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) or 64 QAM to transmit a greater number of bits in each RE, or bi-phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation to transmit a lesser number of bits (a single bit) in each RE. The RB can be configured for a downlink transmission from the eNodeB to the UE, or the RB can be configured for an uplink transmission from the UE to the eNodeB.

This example of the 3GPP LTE Release 8 frame structure provides examples of the way in which data is transmitted, or the transmission mode. The example is not intended to be limiting. Many of the Release 8 features will evolve and change in 5G frame structures included in 3GPP LTE Release 15 and beyond. In such a system, the design constraint is on co-existence with multiple 5G numerologies in the same carrier due to the coexistence of different network services, such as eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) 204, mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications or massive IoT) 202 and URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications or Critical Communications) 206. The carrier in a 5G system can be above or below 6 GHz. In one embodiment, each network service can have a different numerology.

FIG. 2a illustrates a discovery reference signal transmitted in multiple subframes in accordance with an example, which can enhance the MulteFire system. Several signals can be transmitted in the multiple subframes including the primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Each of the signals can be transmitted in one or more of the subframes. For example, the PSS, SSS, and PBCH can be transmitted in DRS Subframe 1, referred to as 210, or DRS Subframe 2, referred to as 220. The DRS can typically contain the essential signals for initial cell access, which can include the PSS, SSS, and PBCH. The DRS can also contain scheduling information for the SIB-MF.

In an example, additional subframes can be introduced to extend the coverage of the discovery reference signal. The link budget of the PSS and SSS can be enhanced in these circumstances. For example, the PSS/SSS can be transmitted in the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols with index number 12 and/or 13 of the first subframe, in which the OFDM symbols can contain 14 total symbols ranging in index number from 0 to 13. In addition, the PSS/SSS can be transmitted in the OFDM symbols with index number 12 and/or 13 of the second subframe, in which the OFDM symbols can contain 14 total symbols ranging in index number from 0 to 13.

In another example, the PBCH can be transmitted with a repetition of two in comparison with the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) PBCH. The first subframe can include 14 total OFDM symbols ranging in index number from 0 to 13. The OFDM symbols with index 12 and/or 13 of the first subframe can be occupied by the PBCH through rate matching. In addition, the OFDM symbols with indices 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 can be used for the PBCH in 3GPP MulteFire Release 1.0.

In another example, the PBCH can be transmitted with a repetition of three in comparison with the 3GPP MulteFire Release 1.0 PBCH. The first subframe can include 14 total OFDM symbols ranging in index number from 0 to 13 and the second subframe can include 14 total OFDM symbols ranging in index number from 0 to 13. The following OFDM symbols can be used for the PBCH: OFDM symbols 12 and 13 of the first subframe, OFDM symbols 0 and 1 of the second subframe; OFDM symbols 12 and 13 of the second subframe; OFDM symbols 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the first subframe; and OFDM symbols 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the second subframe.

In another example, the link budget of SIB-MF can be enhanced. FIG. 2b illustrates an example of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) extension in accordance with an example. The PDCCH can be extended to more control channel elements (CCEs). Under the legacy PDCCH, the PDCCH can include CCE1, CCE2, CCE3, and CCE4. Under the legacy PDCCH, the PDCCH can also include CCE5, CCE6, CCE7, and CCE8. In this example, the PDCCH with system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) can be transmitted on the legacy PDCCH. In the legacy approach, multiple CCEs can be mapped with a maximum aggregation level (AL) of 8. A legacy user equipment (UE) can detect the legacy PDCCH.

In another example, the remaining CCEs, which can include CCE N, CCE (N-1), CCE (N-2), CCE (N-3), and the other remaining CCEs, can be occupied by the PDCCH in a repeated way. The WCE UE can combine multiple repeated PDCCH candidates.

In another example, the PDCCH can be extended in the time domain. For the first subframe, the PDCCH can be transmitted based on the legacy PDCCH. For the second subframe, the PDCCH can be repeated, and the PDCCH of the second subframe can be the same as the PDCCH of the first subframe. In another example, the content of the PDCCH in the second subframe can be transmitted within a larger group of CCEs, as illustrated in FIG. 2 b.

In one example, the PDCCH can be used to schedule the SIB-MF. In this example, the PDSCH and any related parameters (i.e. the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), the demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) and the resource assignments) can be pre-defined or configured within the master information block (MIB).

In another example, for a WCE UE, selected resource blocks can be identified using an MIB. The selected resource blocks can contain an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH). The WCE UE can be configured to decode an ePDCCH transmission. The ePDCCH can be used to signal the location of the SIB-MF. The SIB-MF can be scheduled via the ePDCCH. The ePDCCH can be located in fixed or selected resource blocks in the first subframe of the DRS transmission. The MIB can be decoded by the WCE UE to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH. The ePDCCH can be located in selected resource blocks in all of the subframes associated with the DRS transmission. A selected number of bits (e.g. five) can be redefined in enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) to signal the location of the selected resource blocks of the ePDCCH for SIB-MF allocation. In another example, the ePDCCH can be used to signal a paging transmission. The paging transmission can be decoded using a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI). The PDCCH for SIB-MF can be extended to be applied on multiple DRS subframes.

In another example, the link budget can be enhanced for the PDSCH for SIB-MF. The PDSCH for SIB-MF of the second subframe can repeat the SIB-MF of the first subframe, as illustrated in FIG. 3a . In 310, option 1 illustrates subframe (SF) #1 and SF #2. The content of the legacy PDSCH of SF #1 can be repeated in the content of the legacy PDSCH of SF #2. The content can include the resource assignment and the modulation and coding scheme.

In another example, the PDSCH for SIB-MF can be extended in the time domain or the frequency domain. As illustrated in 320 of FIG. 3B, or option 2, the resource elements (Res) in the legacy PDSCH for SIB-MF can be repeated in the remaining resource elements (REs) of both SF #1 and SF #2. Alternatively, the legacy SIB-MF can be transmitted in SF #2 and not SF #1 to reduce the impact on the legacy UEs. The additional resource elements for the WCE PDSCH can be associated with the legacy PDSCH in a pre-defined way. Alternatively, the resource elements can be indicated in the downlink control information that can schedule the SIB-MF for WCE.

In another example, the PDSCH for SIB-MF in the first subframe can be the legacy 3GPP MulteFire Release 1.0 PDSCH, and the PDSCH for SIB-MF in the second subframe can be transmitted in the coverage extended mode, e.g. based on power boosting, reduced transport block size, and repetition in the frequency domain. The PDSCH for SIB-MF can be extended to be applied on multiple DRS subframes.

In another example, the DRS for a WCE UE can be transmitted using one additional window, which can follow after the legacy DRS burst. The listen before talk (LBT) type can be category 2 or category 4 and can be based on the length of the WCE DRS burst.

In another example, the ePDCCH can be configured using a temporary radio network temporary identifier (Temp RNTI), a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI), or a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI). In an initial stage, a physical channel can be received before radio resource control (RRC) signaling, such as the Temp RNTI scrambled DCI for random access response (RAR). The ePDCCH parameter, e.g. SetConfigID, transmission type, resourceBlockAssignment, and DMRS configuration can be configured by the MF-SIB or can be predefined.

Another example provides functionality 400 of wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell, as shown in FIG. 4. The WCE UE can comprise one or more processors. The one or more processors can be configured to identify, at the WCE UE, selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB), as in block 410. The one or more processors can be configured to decode an ePDCCH transmission, as in block 420. The one or more processors can be configured to identify, at the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded, as in block 430. In addition, the WCE UE can comprise a memory interface configured to send to a memory the selected resource blocks containing the ePDCCH.

Another example provides functionality 500 of a next generation node B (gNB) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell, as shown in FIG. 5. The gNB can comprise one or more processors. The one or more processors can be configured to encode, at the gNB for transmission to a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE), selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks can be identified at the WCE UE using a master information block (MIB), as in block 510. The one or more processors can be configured to encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, an ePDCCH transmission, as in block 520. The one or more processors can be configured to encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded at the WCE UE, as in block 530. In addition, the gNB can comprise a memory interface configured to receive from a memory the selected resource blocks containing the ePDCCH.

Another example provides at least one machine readable storage medium having instructions 600 embodied thereon for performing communication in a MulteFire cell, as shown in FIG. 6. The instructions can be executed on a machine, where the instructions are included on at least one computer readable medium or one non-transitory machine readable storage medium. The instructions when executed perform: identifying, at the WCE UE, selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB), as in block 610. The instructions when executed perform: decoding an ePDCCH transmission, as in block 620. The instructions when executed perform: identifying, at the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded, as in block 630.

While examples have been provided in which a gNB has been specified, they are not intended to be limiting. An evolved node B (eNodeB) can be used in place of the gNB. Accordingly, unless otherwise stated, any example herein in which an gNB has been disclosed, can similarly be disclosed with the use of an eNodeB.

FIG. 7 illustrates an architecture of a system 700 of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system 700 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 701 and a UE 702. The UEs 701 and 702 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 701 and 702 can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 701 and 702 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 710—the RAN 710 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 701 and 702 utilize connections 703 and 704, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 703 and 704 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 701 and 702 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 705. The ProSe interface 705 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 702 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 706 via connection 707. The connection 707 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.15 protocol, wherein the AP 706 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 706 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

The RAN 710 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 703 and 704. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 710 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 711, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 712.

Any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 701 and 702. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 710 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 701 and 702 can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 to the UEs 701 and 702, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 701 and 702. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs 701 and 702 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 702 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 701 and 702. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 701 and 702.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 710 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 720—via an S1 interface 713. In embodiments, the CN 720 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface 713 is split into two parts: the S1-U interface 714, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 711 and 712 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 722, and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 715, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 711 and 712 and MMEs 721.

In this embodiment, the CN 720 comprises the MMEs 721, the S-GW 722, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 723, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 724. The MMEs 721 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 721 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 724 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 720 may comprise one or several HSSs 724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 724 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 722 may terminate the S1 interface 713 towards the RAN 710, and routes data packets between the RAN 710 and the CN 720. In addition, the S-GW 722 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 723 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 723 may route data packets between the EPC network 723 and external networks such as a network including the application server 730 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 725. Generally, the application server 730 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 723 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 730 via an IP communications interface 725. The application server 730 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 701 and 702 via the CN 720.

The P-GW 723 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 726 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 720. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 726 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 730 via the P-GW 723. The application server 730 may signal the PCRF 726 to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 726 may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server 730.

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of a device 800 in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 800 may include application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, one or more antennas 810, and power management circuitry (PMC) 812 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 800 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 800 may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 802, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 800 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 802 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 800. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 802 may process IP data packets received from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806. Baseband processing circuity 804 may interface with the application circuitry 802 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 806. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 804 a, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 804 b, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 804 c, or other baseband processor(s) 804 d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 804 a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 806. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 804 a-d may be included in modules stored in the memory 804 g and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 804 e. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 804 f. The audio DSP(s) 804 f may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 804 and the application circuitry 802 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 804 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 806 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 804. RF circuitry 806 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 808 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 806 may include mixer circuitry 806 a, amplifier circuitry 806 b and filter circuitry 806 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806 may include filter circuitry 806 c and mixer circuitry 806 a. RF circuitry 806 may also include synthesizer circuitry 806 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 806 d. The amplifier circuitry 806 b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 806 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 804 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a necessity. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806 d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 808. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 806 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806 a may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 804 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 806.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806 a of the RF circuitry 806 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a necessity. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 804 or the applications processor 802 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 802.

Synthesizer circuitry 806 d of the RF circuitry 806 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 810, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 806 for further processing. FEM circuitry 808 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 806 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 810. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 806, solely in the FEM 808, or in both the RF circuitry 806 and the FEM 808.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 808 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 806). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 808 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 806), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 810).

In some embodiments, the PMC 812 may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 804. In particular, the PMC 812 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 812 may often be included when the device 800 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 812 may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 8 shows the PMC 812 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 804. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 812 may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 802, RF circuitry 806, or FEM 808.

In some embodiments, the PMC 812 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 800. For example, if the device 800 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 800 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 800 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 800 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 800 may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it can transition back to RRC_Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 802 and processors of the baseband circuitry 804 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 804, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 804 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 9 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 804 of FIG. 8 may comprise processors 804 a-804 e and a memory 804 g utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 804 a-804 e may include a memory interface, 904 a-904 e, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 804 g.

The baseband circuitry 804 may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 912 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 804), an application circuitry interface 914 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 802 of FIG. 8), an RF circuitry interface 916 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 806 of FIG. 8), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 918 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface 920 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC 812.

FIG. 10 provides an example illustration of the wireless device, such as a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile wireless device, a mobile communication device, a tablet, a handset, or other type of wireless device. The wireless device can include one or more antennas configured to communicate with a node, macro node, low power node (LPN), or, transmission station, such as a base station (BS), an evolved Node B (eNB), a baseband processing unit (BBU), a remote radio head (RRH), a remote radio equipment (RRE), a relay station (RS), a radio equipment (RE), or other type of wireless wide area network (WWAN) access point. The wireless device can be configured to communicate using at least one wireless communication standard such as, but not limited to, 3GPP LTE, WiMAX, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Bluetooth, and WiFi. The wireless device can communicate using separate antennas for each wireless communication standard or shared antennas for multiple wireless communication standards. The wireless device can communicate in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), and/or a WWAN. The wireless device can also comprise a wireless modem. The wireless modem can comprise, for example, a wireless radio transceiver and baseband circuitry (e.g., a baseband processor). The wireless modem can, in one example, modulate signals that the wireless device transmits via the one or more antennas and demodulate signals that the wireless device receives via the one or more antennas.

FIG. 10 also provides an illustration of a microphone and one or more speakers that can be used for audio input and output from the wireless device. The display screen can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, or other type of display screen such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. The display screen can be configured as a touch screen. The touch screen can use capacitive, resistive, or another type of touch screen technology. An application processor and a graphics processor can be coupled to internal memory to provide processing and display capabilities. A non-volatile memory port can also be used to provide data input/output options to a user. The non-volatile memory port can also be used to expand the memory capabilities of the wireless device. A keyboard can be integrated with the wireless device or wirelessly connected to the wireless device to provide additional user input. A virtual keyboard can also be provided using the touch screen.

EXAMPLES

The following examples pertain to specific technology embodiments and point out specific features, elements, or actions that can be used or otherwise combined in achieving such embodiments.

Example 1 includes an apparatus of a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to: identify, at the WCE UE, selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB); decode an ePDCCH transmission; and identify, at the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded; and a memory interface configured to send to a memory the selected resource blocks containing the ePDCCH.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of Example 1, further comprising one or more processors configured to: decode the MIB to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH in predefined resource blocks.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of Example further comprising one or more processors configured to: decode, at the WCE UE, the SIB-MF received in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the SIB-MF is decoded in a first subframe.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of Example 3, wherein the SIB-MF is decoded in a second subframe, wherein the PDSCH of SIB-MF of the first subframe is identical to the PDSCH of SIB-MF of the second subframe.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of any of Examples 1 to 4, further comprising a transceiver configured to receive the SIB-MF in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

Example 6 includes the apparatus of any of Examples 1 to 4, further comprising one or more processors configured to decode, at the WCE UE, a paging message received in the ePDCCH.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of any of Examples 1 to 4, wherein the WCE UE includes an antenna, a touch sensitive display screen, a speaker, a microphone, a graphics processor, an application processor, an internal memory, a non-volatile memory port, or combinations thereof.

Example 8 includes an apparatus of a next generation node B (gNB) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to: encode, at the gNB for transmission to a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE), selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks can be identified at the WCE UE using a master information block (MIB); encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, an ePDCCH transmission; and encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded at the WCE UE; and a memory interface configured to receive from a memory the selected resource blocks containing the ePDCCH.

Example 9 includes the apparatus of Example 8, further comprising one or more processors configured to: encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, the MIB to enable the WCE UE to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH in predefined resource blocks.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of Example 8, further comprising one or more processors configured to: encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, the SIB-MF in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the SIB-MF is encoded in a first subframe.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of Example 10, wherein the SIB-MF is encoded in a second subframe, wherein the PDSCH of SIB-MF of the first subframe is identical to the PDSCH of SIB-MF of the second subframe.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of any of Examples 8 to 11, further comprising a transceiver configured to send the SIB-MF in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

Example 13 includes the apparatus of any of Examples 8 to 11, further comprising one or more processors configured to encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, a paging message in the ePDCCH.

Example 14 includes the apparatus of Example 13, wherein the paging message is encoded using a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

Example 15 includes at least one machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for performing communication in a MulteFire cell, the instructions when executed by one or more processors at a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) perform the following: identifying, at the WCE UE, selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB); decoding an ePDCCH transmission; and identifying, at the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded.

Example 16 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of Example 15, further comprising instructions that when executed perform: decoding the MIB to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH in predefined resource blocks.

Example 17 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of Example 15, further comprising instructions that when executed perform: decoding, at the WCE UE, the SIB-MF received in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the SIB-MF is decoded in a first subframe.

Example 18 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of Example 17, further comprising instructions that when executed perform: decoding the SIB-MF in a second subframe, wherein the PDSCH of SIB-MF of the first subframe is identical to the PDSCH of SIB-MF of the second subframe.

Example 19 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of any of Examples 15 to 18, further comprising instructions that when executed perform: decoding, at the WCE UE, a paging message received in the ePDCCH.

Example 20 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of Example 19, wherein the paging message is decoded using a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, compact disc-read-only memory (CD-ROMs), hard drives, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements may be a random-access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), flash drive, optical drive, magnetic hard drive, solid state drive, or other medium for storing electronic data. The node and wireless device may also include a transceiver module (i.e., transceiver), a counter module (i.e., counter), a processing module (i.e., processor), and/or a clock module (i.e., clock) or timer module (i.e., timer). In one example, selected components of the transceiver module can be located in a cloud radio access network (C-RAN). One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an application programming interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware.

It should be understood that many of the functional units described in this specification have been labeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module may not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The modules may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

Reference throughout this specification to “an example” or “exemplary” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment of the present technology. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in an example” or the word “exemplary” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the present technology may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as defacto equivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate and autonomous representations of the present technology.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of layouts, distances, network examples, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the technology. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the technology can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, layouts, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the technology.

While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of the present technology in one or more particular applications, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications in form, usage and details of implementation can be made without the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing from the principles and concepts of the technology. Accordingly, it is not intended that the technology be limited, except as by the claims set forth below. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to: identify, at the WCE UE, selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB); decode an ePDCCH transmission; identify, at the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded; and decode, at the WCE UE, the SIB-MF, wherein the SIB-MF is received at the WCE UE in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and wherein decoding the SIB-MF includes decoding the SIB-MF in a first subframe of the PDSCH, and decoding the SIB-MF in a second subframe of the PDSCH; and a memory interface configured to send to a memory the selected resource blocks containing the ePDCCH.
 2. The apparatus of the WCE UE of claim 1, further comprising one or more processors configured to: decode the MIB to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH in predefined resource blocks.
 3. The apparatus of the WCE UE of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver configured to receive the SIB-MF in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
 4. The apparatus of the WCE UE of claim 1, further comprising one or more processors configured to decode, at the WCE UE, a paging message received in the ePDCCH.
 5. The apparatus of the WCE UE of claim 1, wherein the WCE UE includes an antenna, a touch sensitive display screen, a speaker, a microphone, a graphics processor, an application processor, an internal memory, a non-volatile memory port, or combinations thereof.
 6. An apparatus of a next generation node B (gNB) operable for communication in a MulteFire cell, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to: encode, at the gNB for transmission to a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE), selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks can be identified at the WCE UE using a master information block (MIB); encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, an ePDCCH transmission; and encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded at the WCE UE, wherein encoding the SIG-MF includes encoding the SIB-MF in a first subframe of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and further encoding the SIB-MF in a second subframe of the PDSCH; and a memory interface configured to receive from a memory the selected resource blocks containing the ePDCCH.
 7. The apparatus of the gNB of claim 6, further comprising one or more processors configured to: encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, the MIB to enable the WCE UE to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH in predefined resource blocks.
 8. The apparatus of the gNB of claim 6, further comprising a transceiver configured to send the SIB-MF in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
 9. The apparatus of the gNB of claim 6, further comprising one or more processors configured to encode, at the gNB for transmission to the WCE UE, a paging message in the ePDCCH.
 10. The apparatus of the gNB of claim 9, wherein the paging message is encoded using a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).
 11. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for performing communication in a MulteFire cell, the instructions when executed by one or more processors at a wideband coverage enhancement (WCE) user equipment (UE) perform: identifying, at the WCE UE, selected resource blocks containing an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), wherein the selected resource blocks are identified using a master information block (MIB); decoding an ePDCCH transmission; identifying, at the WCE UE, a system information block MulteFire (SIB-MF) scheduled via the ePDCCH to allow the SIB-MF to be decoded; and decoding, at the WCE UE, the SIB-MF, wherein the SIB-MF is received at the WCE UE in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and wherein decoding the SIB-MF includes decoding the SIB-MF in a first subframe of the PDSCH, and decoding the SIB-MF in a second subframe of the PDSCH.
 12. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed perform: decoding the MIB to determine a location of the ePDCCH based on a signal in the MIB identifying a location of the ePDCCH in predefined resource blocks.
 13. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed perform: decoding, at the WCE UE, a paging message received in the ePDCCH.
 14. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the paging message is decoded using a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI). 